Christian Life

Worship Gathered on Sunday because this is the day of the resurrection Gathered for Lord’s Supper (Eucharist) Main point was not for call to repentance or conviction of sins but to celebrate the resurrection

Worship These were happy occasions Acts 2:46-47-Glad and sincere hearts Did not focus on Good Friday but Easter Only after Protestant Reformation and much later in some cases did preaching become the focal point of worship

Worship Tone was joy and gratitude and not sorrow and repentance Communion was a part of an entire meal Believers brought what food they could and after the common meal they had communion By 2nd Century common meal was set aside due to either: persecution, rumors(orgies), or too many believers to pull it off.

Worship Read from memoirs of the apostles Deacons took food to those not present Offering was taken for those in need: orphans, widows, prisoners, and sojourners.

Worship 2 main parts-Reading of scripture and commentary No one had Bibles so this could be a couple hours Those not baptized would be dismissed and the rest would take communion Bread was broken and shared and the common cup passed

Worship Common custom was to gather for worship at the tombs of the faithful Gathered at the tombs on the anniversaries of martyrs deaths This gave rise to Saints day Also gathered in homes more frequently than tombs

Worship Christianity grow so much that multiple congregations grew in certain cities This led to a piece of bread from the bishop to go to other congregations Each church had a prayer list for other Bishops as well This was done for unity

Worship Every Sunday was the same almost and resembled Easter Friday was for penance, fasting, and sorrow Wednesday also became a day of fasting Special Sunday once a year to celebrate the Resurrection Some thought this should coincide strictly with Jewish Passover and other thought always a Sunday

Worship At Easter, new converts were baptized Baptism only occurred once a year At times, it was up to 3 years before one could be baptized after confessing Christ Time of fasting and prayer before Easter which is where Lent originated Pentecost was also celebrated

Worship Baptismal candidates had to prove conviction in lifestyle and learn creeds and scripture Baptized naked Given water to drink and also milk and honey Mostly immersion but at times water poured over head 3 times-Trinity Disputes over whether or not infant baptism occurred

Organization 3 positions-Bishop-Elder (Presbyter)-Deacon NT does refer to these but usually Bishop and Elder means the same Authority of Bishops from apostolic succession was due to heresies Is there such a title? Does this take away the Holy Spirit’s involvement

Women By the end of 2nd Century church leadership was all male Philip had 4 daughters who prophesied Pliny tortured 2 female ministers Widows were taken care of but given responsibilities Church began celebrating marriage by 2nd century Civil rights involved in church marriage

Evangelism Did not have evangelistic services or revivals Evangelism took place in every day life Martyrdom was most effective witness Spread rapidly in the cities and slowly spread to rural areas By 180, 86% of port cities had a church and 65% of inland cities